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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Thai buyers tempted by London property

EXCLUSIVE: Thai property buyers and investors are being tempted by London properties in ever-increasing numbers.

London property exhibitions, which take place almost every weekend in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, have so far been a relatively rare sight in Bangkok. But as wealthy Thais look overseas in greater numbers, so property developers are starting to bring their projects to the Land of Smiles.

This weekend (June 16-17) Savills is showcasing Berkeley Homes’ 375 High Street Kensington development (pictured), hot on the heels of Spenhill’s Woolwich Central project which was exhibited in the Thai capital last weekend.

To date there have been very few London property exhibitions in Bangkok, but unlike buyers in other Southeast Asian cities where demand is driven primarily by a desire to invest, the demand from Thai buyers is different.

Robert Collins, Managing Director of Savills (Thailand), told PropertyGuru: “We are finding interest for Thai buyers is primarily led for owner-occupier use and a trend socially for buying a prime London home. There has been very limited buy-to-let’ interest so far, and the trend therefore differs quite significantly from the Hong Kong and Singapore markets and this is reflected in the type of apartments that Savills has been selling in Bangkok.”

Andrew Batt, Regional Group Editor for PropertyGuru, said: “There’s no doubt that Thai buyers are an increasingly important yet largely untapped source of potential buyers of London properties. Bangkok certainly deserves to be high on the list of destinations for any U.K. developer who is looking to tap into the Southeast Asian market.”